Giants send Lincecum to the hill versus Dodgers

Baseball Betting Lines

07/30/2010 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Tim Lincecum goes after win No. 11 this evening when the San Francisco Giants open a three-game series against the Los Angeles Dodgers at AT&T Park.

Lincecum has not received a decision in either of his last two outings, but is 10-4 on the season with a 3.12 earned run average. He went eight innings in Arizona on Sunday, but did not factor in the decision of his team's 3-2 win, as he allowed two runs and nine hits. He also struck out five and his 143 punchouts are six short of Philadelphia ace Roy Halladay's National League lead.

The NL's reigning two-time Cy Young Award winner was roughed up by the Dodgers two starts ago, surrendering five runs in 4 2/3 innings. However, he is 4-1 lifetime against the Dodgers with a 3.54 ERA in eight starts.

Lincecum will be trying to get the Giants back on track tonight after the team was held to one hit in Thursday's finale to Florida, a 5-0 loss that also saw rookie Buster Posey's impressive 21-game hitting streak come to an end.

"I had fun with it," Posey, hitting an NL-best .427 in July, said. "I concentrated on winning ballgames as much as possible, but I guess, in a way, it's kind of nice that the attention will go back to that instead of the streak."

The Giants have still won six of eight and are 3 1/2 games back of San Diego in the National League West, while holding a 1 1/2 game edge on the Philadelphia Phillies for the wild card.

Los Angeles, meanwhile, may have hurt its division chances this week, losing the final two games of its three-game set with first-place San Diego. The Dodgers fell 3-2 on Thursday and now sit seven games back of the Padres.

James Loney homered in the loss for the Dodgers, while starter Vicente Padilla allowed two runs on four hits over four innings.

"Padilla wasn't his usual self. He was struggling and when I say struggling, he was fighting for it today," said Los Angeles manager Joe Torre. "He used up a lot of pitches early."

Getting the call this evening will be righty Carlos Monasterios, who gets another shot at the rotation. Monasterios was impressive against the Mets on Saturday, scattering six hits over five scoreless innings, but did not factor in the decision of his team's 3-2 win.

Monasterios has been shuffled between the rotation and bullpen this season and is 3-2 on the year with a 3.30 ERA.

Los Angeles has won six of nine from the Giants this season.

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How did changes to college football betting rules affect bettors?

The 2007 college football rules changes that were implemented to shorten games are now history. The NCAA rules committee did what they set out to do; games were cut by an average of 14 minutes per game last season. There were also, on average, 14 fewer plays per game. We’ll get into how that did (or didn’t) affect games in regards to the pointspread a bit later.

While the NCAA rules committee may have had the betterment of the game in mind, they'll now “turn back the clock” for next season. Two key rules have now been overturned by the NCAA committee for the 2007 season, something definitely for the better.

For those of you who may not remember what those rules actually were, let us refresh your memory.

1) The first one was actually starting the clock on a kickoff as soon as the kicker touched the ball rather than waiting until the returner touched it. The problem here was near the end of the half (or game), if the team leading was kicking off, they could milk the clock by intentionally running offsides and then re-kicking. They could run 10-15 seconds off the clock each play while taking just five-yard penalties each time. They could run the clock down and simply cause the half (or game) to end on a kickoff, keeping the opposing offense off the field. In 2007, the clock will now start when the returner touches the ball as it had before last season.

2) The second rule dealt with starting the clock after a change of online football betting possession rather than waiting until the ball was snapped. This took a lot of time off the clock throughout the game as teams changed possession, however it caused the most problems late in games (or halves). Rather than huddling up and calling a play, the offensive team would have to rush onto the field as the clock started. This was a definite disadvantage to a team that was trying to come from behind late in the game. This year the clock will start on a change of possession, after the ball is snapped.

How did those rules affect the college game last year and will it make a difference this year when it comes to the pointspread? We commonly heard two theories when it came to these changes. First, it would affect scoring negatively. Second, it would hurt favorites as they would have less time and fewer plays to cover the number.

Did the rules hurt scoring? Yes. It seemed obvious that shortening the game by what amounted to 14 plays would push scoring downward. That was the case last year. Of the 119 Division 1A teams, 69 squads scored fewer points in 2007 than they did in 2005. Just 48 teams had a higher PPG scoring average and two stayed the same. Almost 59 percent of the teams in college football last year had a lower PPG average than they did in 2005. Expect more scoring in 2007 as we revert back to the old rules.

Did the rules hinder favorites from covering the number in 2007? Not really. Last year the favorites posted an overall spread record of 336-350-16 (48.9 percent). The year before, favorites were 316-326-13 (49.2 percent). In 2004, the favorites were 316-339-2 (48.2 percent). In fact, college football favorites have been above 50 percent for the season just once in the last seven years (in 2003). Last year’s numbers fell right in line with where they have been historically.

How about big favorites? The rules must have hurt them? Maybe a little bit. Double-digit favorites last year came in at a 47.8 percent clip compare with an average of just over 50 percent over the last seven years. Since 1980, favorites of -10 or more have covered at exactly a 50 percent clip (measured over 6,716 games).

Even bigger favorites must have struggled? Not really. In fact, it was just the opposite. Favorites of three TD’s or more were 59-54-2 last year (52.2 percent). Since 2000, those same favorites (-21 or higher) hit at 51.3 percent and since 1990 came in a clip of 50.3 percent. Stepping it up a notch to four TD favorites or higher, we actually see they've covered at a much better rate last season than before. Last year, favorites of -28 or more were 31-21-1, or almost 60 percent. Historically, four-TD-or-higher favorites have come in at a 50.7 percent spot since 2000 and only 48.9 percent since 1990. The “perceived” problem with the favorites covering at a reduced rate really never came to fruition.

Bottom line is, there might be some more scoring in 2007, but no real revelations when it comes to finding any pointspread golden nuggets.

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